


Somewhere a Clock is ticking

by EverydaySanePsycho



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Family Drama, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Original Character(s), Murder, Violence, Will update as I go along, don't want to give too much away
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-09 11:57:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11668665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverydaySanePsycho/pseuds/EverydaySanePsycho
Summary: For Regina, happiness never lasted, no matter how hard she held on.For Emma, happiness came with conditions, so she had learnt to let go first.Together they thought they might have a chance, but with inner demons to battle, disapproving parents determined to keep them apart and a killer on the loose, their happy ending seems further away than ever.Can they beat the odds or are the fates themselves conspiring against them?This is a story about happiness. About how far some would go to get it and how far one family went to get it back.





	1. Darkness on the Edge of Town

**Author's Note:**

> Context: This is set around the middle of season 2 – so Cora is dead but Neverland or the Owen storylines haven’t happened (and aren’t going to). I know that feels like forever ago but in this story everyone very much still treats Regina as the Evil Queen. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy :D

_Darkness on the edge of Town_

Regina was just dozing off when she felt the bed shift slightly under the weight of the extra person, crawling under the covers. She glanced up at the clock on her bedside table, its flashing red letters indicating it was 4.13am, she was not happy. She turned to face the intruder intending to give them a piece of her mind, but when she looked round she found all the stern words and spiteful jabs die on her tongue, Emma looked truly exhausted, the effect of being on duty almost round the clock was clearly having a devastating effect on the Saviour.

A small "Hey" followed by a weak smile was all Emma seemed able to manage.

"How's the case going?" Regina asked, despite the late hour if Emma wished to talk if it over she would oblige.

"Nowhere" replied a glum and now pouting blonde. Regina barely managed to contain her smile, a pouting Emma was ridiculously adorable but she didn't need to know that.

The case which seemed to have taken over their lives, had been going on for just over a month now, the one-off attack on a young woman walking along the toll path at the edge of the forest, had just two weeks later turned into a spree of attacks and the Sheriff’s department were working furiously to catch the culprit. Regina, Gold and the Blue fairy had been called in originally to see if magic could help find the how and why’s of the attacks but there was no magical signature to be found. It was up to good old-fashioned police work. Not that Regina honestly believed that _Charming_ was very much help in that respect; what could a shepherd turned fake prince possibility know about policing but she had tried to keep that thought to herself in the name of not rocking, the very unsteady boat that her and the Charming's where now aboard after finding out of her and Emma's – well it was hard to define exactly what it was her and the blonde had.

"I just feel so useless y’know, it's been over a month since the first attack and as have as much to go on now as we did then. No seems to know anything" Emma groaned in frustration "three more girls have been attacked and WE HAVE nothing! It's not fair!"

"No, it's not" Regina agreed 'but you're doing everything you can and you're working so hard".

"I'm not doing enough" turning away, Emma looked up to the ceiling,

Regina sat up, leaning her head on her hand to prop herself up and give her a better view of the now quietly stewing sheriff. Before her mind could register what her body was doing, she was using her other hand to run her fingers through the long unruly blonde curls that had spread themselves rather gracefully across the pillow in the way only a true princess can manage. She soon felt Emma relaxing under her continuing touch so she placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head so she was now looking into Emma's eyes. Eyes that she could look into forever truth be told, they were never the same shade of blue twice and even now framed with red rims and the weight of the world in them, they still took Regina's breath away.

"You are doing enough, you are doing everything that can be done right now and you will get a break in this case, if you can't find the attacker then no one in the same position could. I don't employ shoddy sheriffs." Regina smirked at this and Emma couldn't help but let out a light laugh, it died quickly though and a completive look took its place

"I just don't want anyone else getting hurt, these girls don't deserve what this animal is doing to them".

"Not many people in this world do deserve the things that happen to them sweetheart, the good or the bad." Cupping Emma's face gently, Regina stroked her thumb softly over the blonde’s cheekbone. Turning slightly Emma kissed her palm and then finally allowed herself to settle into the bed, letting out a long breath that she didn't even know she had been holding until then.

"They'll never be the same though." Before Regina could question this statement, she continued “Why are you still awake?" as if she had only just noticed that it was 4 in the morning and that Regina clearly hadn't been asleep when she came in. "You told me you'd be back hours ago and I couldn't sleep knowing you'd be coming in at any minute."

"Oh, right yea, I just lost track of time?"

"For the last six nights?" Regina interrupted, her earlier anger coming back somewhat and she moved her hand down onto the space in the bed between them, the moment clearly broken. "I understand that this case is important and you're taking on a lot of the workload, but you have David and Ruby and if you're going to tell me a time I don’t understand why can't you just stick to it?!"

"It's not like I meant to be late Regina, it just happened"

"And you couldn't pick up the phone?"

"I forgot! It that a crime now?"

Both of them were now sitting up in the bed, the tension quickly rising between them.

"It's just common courtesy Miss Swan or do you think you're above that now that you're the precious Saviour of Storybrooke?"

"I WAS BUSY" Emma yelled getting out of bed and glaring back at the brunette, 'I'm _sooooo_ sorry if you don’t think that this case or these girls are important. I guess I should have made your stupid phone call a priority since it was to your majesty." mockingly Emma then gave a bastartized form of a bow. As soon as she done it she realised she went too far, the lack of sleep and mountain of stress causing her to do and say things she didn't really mean. She had promised Regina her past didn't matter anymore, that they could all move on from the person Regina had become when she lost Daniel and here she was mocking her with it – in an argument no less. But Emma was stubborn, maybe even more so than Regina so she continued to glare as Regina spat out her next words at the Sheriff.

"Well if that’s what you think and you don't like the person I am then maybe you should go stay with Mommy and Daddy then! You didn't seem to mind staying there last week. I barely seen you! Haven't seen you since this case began expect when your sneaking into my bed at all hours of the night and waking me up in the process!'

"Well excuse me if all I want to do after working a 14 hour day is come home to my girlfriend, even if it is just to sleep! Sorry I’m such a burden. ' Emma was screaming at this point, however it seemed to take them both a second to realise that Emma hadn't thrown the expected insult at Regina but instead had what? Regina wasn't sure and she momentarily floundered, grasping to understand what exactly Emma had meant.

Meanwhile Emma felt the fight leave her and overwhelming tiredness catch up with her again, she fell back on the bed and covered her face with her hands. Her head was resting slightly on Regina's thigh, the rest of her body lying horizontally on the bed, her legs hanging off the edge. She could feel tears pricking at her eyes but damn it she didn't cry in front of people, didn't cry at all in fact, it must be the tiredness. The silence in the room seemed to stretch on forever, though in reality it had only been moments, Emma broke first.

"I'm sorry I didn't call you I should have I know. It's just, last week any time I said I was gonna be late you said I should just stay at Snow’s cos it's closer to the station but I guess I just…" she trailed off at this point not wanting to be any more vulnerable.

"Just what?" Regina whispered into the darkness of the room, the anger in her voice gone and replaced by genuine curiosity. The brunette felt rather than heard the deep breath the blonde took before speaking.

"Just wanted to be with you. I, I sleep better next to you. So, I guess, I just, I didn't phone in case you didn't want me…. I mean didn't want me to come over so late, I mean." Emma tried in vain to cover her slip; the truth was she didn't know what it was that Regina saw in her. She didn't know why anyone as amazing as Regina, as regal and she meant that in all the best ways could want someone like her, someone so low on the totem pole of life.

Regina for her part was shocked, speechless really and this was someone who had spent the better part of her adult life striking fear into the hearts of millions before callously ripping said hearts out. Regina Mills did not do shocked or speechless. And yet here she was and all because of the blonde thing lying on her bed. Regina had heard what Emma though she had covered up, how could Emma think that she didn't want her? She knew that Emma had issues with abandonment, with believing that people truly wanted her. She'd be surprised if she didn't, given her upbringing, which now that she thought about they had never really talked about. Anything she knew had been from that file she had gotten Sidney to make when Emma first came to town. Why hadn't they ever talked about it? Ever talked about Emma? Maybe because they had always been so focused on her – the thought crept into her mind unbidden and really quite unwelcomed. Why shouldn't things be focused on her for once? This was her happy ending, wasn't it? _Hers or theirs?_ A voice echoed in her head sounding suspiciously Daniel like. _Love's a two-way street Regina, you cannot take without also giving._ He had always been her voice of reason; her Jiminy Cricket Henry would call him. She had heard his voice a lot when he had first died, would have conversions with him in her head. As she went down the cold, lonely path of revenge his voice had died or maybe she just hadn't wanted to hear it, not when he wouldn't have agreed with her, not when he would have been so disappointed with the person she became.

Emma had moved, she was sitting up on the edge of the bed, it seemed like she had been lost in thought for a while and Emma was getting ready to flee, her go-to option when it seemed like someone was going to reject her. Reject first and Run.

She needed to stop her, Daniel was right love was about more than just taking; she needed Emma to let her in, so she could help like Emma had helped her. She might not get another chance; if Emma went home as upset and she was Snow would use it to make sure they stayed separated. Thinking of Snow, a snippet of a conversion they'd had, came floating into Regina's mind. It had only been a few weeks ago, just before the case started. Snow and David had just found out about her and Emma, they hadn't been ready to tell them, but they’d also been careless. Presuming that everyone was out for the day and they'd been caught. Even her and Emma hadn't been sure what exactly they were yet but Emma had stood up to her parents, as angry and as confused as the Charming's had been and told them that 'everyone deserves a happy ending including Regina and I intend to make sure that happens with or without your approval'.

She had stormed out then and as Regina went to follow Snow had said something that she had brushed off at the time but now seemed to be echoing around her head. 'You know Regina, I can understand why you might think that Emma is your happy ending but tell me, if this isn’t some sort of ruse to hurt me. If you truly care, then why on earth would you think that you are her happy ending? How have you ever made her life better, easier?' Regina balked, Snow was right – God that wasn't a thought that went down easy. Did she make Emma's life better? Hadn't it been her fault that Emma grew up like she did in the first place? Emma had been working so hard and she had yelled at her. Been angry with her for no reason at all, because she had chosen her instead of her parents. _So fix it_. There was that voice again and again it was right. Emma was her happy ending and she was Emma's and she'll be dammed if she was going to let anyone – including herself – mess that up.

"Emma wait, please."

Emma didn't turn at the sound of Regina's voice, but she did at least seem to be listening. Silence once again filled the room but this time it was Regina who broke it.

"I didn't mean what I said; of course, I'd rather you came here. I shouldn't have shouted at you. I'm sorry. Will you accept my apology?" At this Regina moved across the bed, placing her hand on Emma's shoulder and then trailing her fingers down her arm.

"It's okay" Emma's voice was soft, Regina wouldn't have heard it if she hadn't been right behind the blonde. She tilted her head and placed a soft kiss on the blonde's shoulder.

"And Emma?"

"Yea?"

"I do want you, you’re my-" Regina was cut off by the loud ringing coming from the red leather jacket lying over her dressing table chair.

"Swan." Emma was all business now, whatever vulnerability she had been willing to show Regina gone as she paced back and forth in front of the bed. "Yea. Okay. I understand. Keep the scene secure until I get there. No one goes near the area without my say so, okay? Thanks Rubes. I'll be there as soon as I can." Pulling on her jeans and grabbing her jacket she addressed Regina now. "I gotta go, they found a body."

"A body?"

"Yea, looks like the guy finished the job this time."

"Who found her?"

"Luckily enough it was Ruby, it's just before the full moon - she gets antsy and restless so she was taking the patrol while me and David got some sleep. Well that had been the theory." She said rolling her eyes at the fact that in practice no sleep had actually been had. "Well, I should probably get going…"

"Of course. Ring me; let me know how it goes."

"Sure, though it’s like five in the morning you should be sleeping "

"So should you, I'll sleep when you sleep." It seemed like the right thing to say, the tension that seemed to have built up in the room since Regina's slow response to Emma's vulnerability dissipating, at least a little. "Be careful."

"Always am" was Emma's quick reply accompanied by her signature half crooked grin. Regina rolled her eyes as Emma left the room knowing just how reckless the Saviour could be.

15 minutes later and the Sheriff's squad car pulled up alongside the docks. Ruby came over to meet her.

"Hey Emma. This one's pretty bad."

"They've all been bad" Emma replied.

"Yea well, this one's worse"

Ruby led her down one of the alleys that ran near the docks, at the end of which was a body that had once been a beautiful young girl. Now it was a bloody mess of torn flesh and crushed bone. Most of one side of her face was caved in and her arms had deep lacerations on them, her fingers were bloody and cut – she had tried to fight back.

Emma took a deep breath, trying to control the many emotions that ran through her body at the sight of the broken girl. Anger, sorrow, guilt, pain as half-forgotten memories came charging back to the surface. She fought to push them back down, she needed to stay focused.

She heard footsteps behind her and turning saw David otherwise known as Prince Charming or her _father_ – yea that was still taking some getting used to - walking towards them. Him and Ruby exchanged the same news she had given Emma when she got to the scene, how she had found her – her wolfy sense of smell good for something, though not, apparently catching the now killer Emma thought wryly, and the fact that she hadn't seen anyone about on her patrols.

Looking over the body Emma noticed marks on the torso that looked like finger marks, no wait that wasn't it. Curling her hand into a fist she placed it onto the girl, yes, this print was a lot bigger but it was the same shape. The marks were that of a fist, the bruising darker where the knuckles would be. Someone had done this with their own bare hands. Emma's blood ran cold. How strong did someone have to be to bash a girl's skull in?

Emma and Charming hadn't got a lot out of the other victims, two of them where in comas, the other had been knocked out with the first blow and the first victim was hazy. All she could remember was pain and something that felt like a sledge hammer hitting her over and over again. At first Emma had thought it might well have been a sledge hammer, with all the damage it had done, but as she found a footprint in the mud further down the alley - which could not possibly be, from a normal human being, she found herself thinking that maybe they were dealing with something much more sinister.

"Emma. Emma? EMMA" Charming shouting her name finally pulled her out of her reverie.

"Sorry, what?"

"They're gonna take the body away now. Maybe we should all go home and get a few hours rest. Get a fresh start later on?"

"Yea sure, just let me get a cast of this print first." As much as she didn't want to just leave after getting a new crime scene, she knew she needed to get some sleep soon or she'd be no use to anyone.

"Oh yea and I found some sort of ash on the girls clothes, I bagged it." Ruby said joining the father and daughter duo by the print. "Whoa that's a big footprint"

"Yea" Emma agreed "Know any fairytale characters with feet this size? A Giant maybe?" Emma rolled her eyes at the things coming out of her mouth.

Kneeling down to get a closer look, Charming shook his head "It's way too small to be a giant, besides the only giant that I know of in Storybrooke is Anton, and I don't for one second believe he had anything to do with this."

"Me either" Emma murmured, walking away from the scene and back to her car.

"You want to come back with me to the apartment? It's closer?" He asked it pleasantly enough but Emma could see right through it. The apartment being closer had nothing to do with why he had asked her.

"No thanks, Regina is waiting up" He looked mildly surprised at this but accepted her answer anyway.

Eight minutes later – so she broke a few speed limits, what was she gonna do arrest herself? - Emma was once again crawling under the covers of Regina's bed.

"How did it go? Is the case getting anywhere?" Regina asked, still sitting up and reading a book which she now bookmarked and put on the bedside table as to give her full attention to Emma.

"Wow, this feels like déjà vu" Emma smirked.

"I promise we won't fight this time" Regina breathed gently linking their hands together.

"I didn't ring you" Emma stated, her eyebrows rising up in a slight challenge, though she tightened her grip on Regina's hand.

"You don't need to ring me to come over here Emma, I will always want you to be here when you can, and even when you can't, I'll still want you to be here. I'm just not very good at showing it, it’s been a while since… well you know."

Emma leant up in the bed and captured Regina's lips with her own. "I know" she whispered into the kiss.

"Emma I need you to kno…"

Emma kissed her again, cutting her of, putting more passion into it, her tongue teasing at Regina's bottom lip, begging for entrance that was gladly given. Their tongues battled for dominance, Regina's hands threading through blond hair, Emma gripping the back of Regina's neck.

There was desperation to Emma's kisses as she moved along Regina's jawline and down her neck, slipping her tongue out over the brunette's pulse point and sucking on it. Regina moaned at the feeling. Her mind clouding as all she could process was Emma's touch on her. The blonde moved up in the bed, never breaking her mouth's connection with Regina's neck. She straddled Regina's thighs, her hands pinning the former Queen's arms to the headboard, she claimed her lips once more.

Regina was breathless, her nipples hardening under the barely there silk nightdress she was wearing, the heat within her, spreading to her core. She wanted Emma so much, but she could feel the slightly frantic way that Emma was pouring herself into her kisses. It was a feeling she knew well and she wouldn't let Emma do that to herself. She pulled away, seeing the hurt in Emma's eyes and immediately feeling guilty for causing it – that's new she thought.

Before Emma could move away though, she linked her hands round the back of her neck and pulled her so close their foreheads were touching. "Don't, Don't, Don't" She whispered as she peppered kisses all over Emma's face. "Talk to me, don't bury your feelings, please darling". She looked into Emma's eyes and she could see a myriad of emotions; hurt, anger, shame, mistrust, pain, love, uncertainty. Moving, she ran one of her thumbs over Emma's lips, never had she wanted to take someone else's pain away so much. "Trust me".

"Anyone I ever trusted left." Emma finally said, averting her eyes from Regina.

"I won't, I know you don't believe me right now and that's okay. But Emma, darling, I won't ever leave you." And then she whispered the words she had always wished someone had said to her all those years ago. "You're not alone, not anymore."

Emma looked into her eyes then, really looked, as if she was seeing into her soul, perhaps she was. Regina only hoped she would find what she needed there, that she would be enough.

"It's just. It's this case. It hits a little…. I get it y’know, the girls, what they’ve been through, I get it."

"They'll never be the same" Regina breathed now realising what had niggled her about that statement, it had seemed personal. The blonde nodded.

"I think I do trust you. I want to trust you. I mean it's not like I don't trust you, you know that? Right? Like with Henry or the town…."

"Emma, Emma" The blonde was rambling so Regina placed a finger over her mouth, effectively silencing the Saviour. "I understand. Trusting me to not be the Evil Queen and trusting me with your past is different, I get it" And she did, when she had talked to the blonde about her past that had been about trusting Emma her girlfriend with it, not about trusting Emma the Saviour.

"Regina?"

"Yes"

"If I promise to talk to you about my past, will you, just, maybe, um, hold me tonight? Emma whispered the last words so quietly, Regina was almost sure that she had misheard. But the fact that Emma wouldn't meet her eyes and almost seemed to be shrinking into herself with insecurity let her know that she hadn't.

"Emma, I promise to hold you every night, even if you never tell me about your past."

She could feel Emma scanning her, looking for any sort of untruth, but she obviously didn't find any because she allowed herself to sink into Regina's arms. The brunette pulled her closer and under the covers, wrapping her arms around her and squeezing slightly. Emma's head fell into the crook between Regina's neck and shoulder as if it had been made to fit there, their legs intertwining. Regina ran her fingers through the blonde locks just as she had earlier, again feeling the blonde relax. She’s not sure what makes her start doing it but she starts humming an old tune that her father used to sing to her when she was young, the words had long been forgotten but she used to hum it to Henry when he was upset, it always seemed to work.

Feeling Emma relax further, her breathing evening out, as sleep overcomes her, Regina thinks once more about her conversation with Snow and decides that this might be it, that maybe this is one of the ways she makes, Emma's life better.


	2. Guess Who's going to Dinner?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your comments and kudos etc. It really means a lot. Anywho on with Chapter 2.

The next morning dawned bright and early, as it would, when you had only gotten to sleep a few hours earlier. Emma woke to find herself still wrapped in Regina's arms and regardless of how safe she felt lying there she tried to untangle herself quickly and quietly, unwilling to face the brunette in the cold light of day. Her face burned red with embarrassment at how vulnerable she had let herself become last night. Regina must think she's so stupid and weak. 'Will you hold me?' God your such an idiot Swan. Emma mentally berated herself as she sat up in the bed, and checked her phone. Her, David and Ruby were planning to meet at Granny's at twelve thirty, she had slept longer than she wanted and definitely longer than she thought she would, but she still had time for a quick shower.

As the hot water cascaded down over her back, she made herself a mental checklist of the things she had to do today. The broad goal was to catch the now killer, but even with the new evidence their last crime scene had given them, Emma knew it wasn't a lot to go on. Storybrooke had been practically crime free under the curse, so there would be no criminal record database to help narrow down suspects. 

It also appeared that keeping records, or even memories, of such people that would be capable of these attacks, wasn't an especially developed Fairy Tale talent. Unless your name started with Evil and ended in Queen of course, then they could remember every single damn thing she had ever done. As David, Snow and even Thomas or Abigail hadn't a clue; she had of course asked Regina had she heard of anyone like this. Her rule over her Kingdom, being that much longer than Snow and Charming's and her influence more keenly felt. 

Her reply was an incredulous expression of wry amusement and vague annoyance. ‘Do you really think that I wouldn’t have noticed and dealt with someone attacking my subjects’ dear?’ Emma had smiled at that, not so much as a whisper had went round Storybrooke without the Mayor knowing about it so she couldn't really imagine anyone getting much by the Evil Queen. Of course, Snow’s less than mature response to that statement had been a snarky comment which had started a 20-minute battle of wits which she had of course inevitably lost. David had cut in surmising that the attacker had to be from another kingdom at least – which when she discussed that idea with Regina and realised how many Kingdom’s there were, really didn't help her much at all.

Stepping out of the shower and getting dressed, she went back to her checklist. First port of call, coffee, lots and lots of coffee. She was exhausted, but as she stretched, she realised she also felt more alert than she had in days. She smiled at that, knowing instinctively that it had been staying with Regina that had done it and more specifically falling asleep in Regina's arms. She couldn't remember the last time she had allowed someone to hold her like that. Neal probably, though she couldn't remember ever feeling that secure, even with him.

She walked back into the bedroom, picking up her gun and badge and then pulling on her old leather jacket. Regina was still sleeping. Lying like this, all her defences down, you could almost see the young, innocent girl she once was. Sometimes Emma wished she could have met her back then. Back before everything had been stolen from her, her happy ending torn away. More than that, she wished she could go back and change it, give her the life that was so cruelly denied to her. But alas, Emma knew better than most, you can't change the past, bad things happen to good people every single day and once darkness enters your life, its changes you forever.

Leaning down she pressed a soft, lingering kiss to Regina's forehead. A silent thank you for staying with her, for holding her.

What she didn’t know was that Regina had in fact been awake since before Emma got into the shower, woken when Emma had so un-skilfully tried to disentangle herself from her. She had however sensed that Emma wouldn't want to talk about the night before, at least not right away. So, she had lain still as Emma proceeded to get ready, only opening her eyes when she heard the front door close.  
_____________________________________________________________________

"Henry! What are you doing here? Shouldn't Mary-Margaret have left you to school?" Emma exclaimed as she walked into the diner.

"It was a half day Emma, for teacher training, remember?"

"Oh right, yea. I remember now."

Henry gave her a look which clearly stated that he didn't believe her and was not amused that she had tried to pass herself off as having remembered. It was also a look that screamed Regina and while her parents may not be too keen on the daily reminders that Henry was still very much Regina’s son, Emma loved seeing Regina’s influence on who Henry was. 

"Come on; give me a break Kid, there's been a lot going on."

"Yea I guess, so what's happening with you and my mom?

"Emm, next question." Emma asked not wanting to discuss this in the middle of the diner, with her father sitting right beside her. Henry must have gotten the hint because he changed tact them to ask a question about another topic Emma did not want to discuss.

"Okay. What's happening with Operation Hulk?"

"Operation Hulk?"

"Yea, Ruby told me you guys found a really big footprint last night, so Operation Hulk makes sense, right?"

Ruby who had been in the middle of coming over to join them, promptly turned away and scooted back into the kitchen as she heard Henry's words and met Emma's angry stare, guiltily. Not to be outrun, Emma followed her through the swinging doors.

"What the hell Ruby?"

"I'm sorry Emma, it's just he can be really persistent… and then he catches you off guard with all these random questions. I didn't tell him about the body or anything like that, I promise, just the footprint."

"Okay."

Ruby’s face flooded with relief.

"Really? It’s okay?"

"Yea, really. Look I know what Henry can be like once he gets an idea into his head. Remember Operation Cobra? Just try and ignore his questions from now on, or tell him to ask me or Regina. The last thing we need is our son running around Storybrooke on his very own hero’s mission and getting into trouble."

To Ruby’s credit she didn’t even bat an eyelid at Emma’s announcement of her and the Evil Queen as a parental unit. Whether that was because she could see the internal panic it had caused Emma to so casually refer to her and Regina as ‘We’ or if she was just happy that Emma wasn’t angry at her, Emma wasn’t sure but was immensely grateful either way. 

"Of course Ems."

"Thanks Rubes, you gonna come and sit back down now? I'm not that scary, am I? " Emma smirked, the both of them laughing as they made their way out of the kitchen and back into the diner.

The crime fighting trio got their coffee to go and headed over to the station, for what promised to be another long day. Henry had asked to stay in the diner and wait for his Grandmother to collect him, something about bird houses. Emma had agreed, on two conditions: One that he stay where Granny could keep an eye on him and two no more Operation Hulk.

As Henry waited for his Grandmother to arrive, he subtly tried to check out the size of the other customer's feet – rationalizing that if he wasn't going looking for people, then he wasn't really breaking his promise to Emma. It was then he noticed an older man sitting in the back corner of the diner. He had seen him around a few times, but had never talked to him. In fact he couldn't remember anyone ever talking to him, including Ruby and she talked to everyone. 

As Henry leaned over in his chair to try and see the man's feet, the gentleman noticed he was being stared at and locked eyes with Henry. He motioned for Henry to come over and being the young hero in training that he was, he obeyed. He couldn't help but be nervous though, as the man didn't look particularly nice. His suit was old and shabby, his greying hair all over the place, as if he hadn't brushed it in a while and his eyes were scarily bloodshot. He did however, have average size feet, so Henry breathed a sigh of relief and sat down opposite the man.

"Hey. I'm Henry. What's your name?"

"I know who you are, young Henry. What I don't know is why you were staring at me?"

The man had a strange accent and it seemed to be a great effort for him to speak, as if he was very tired. At first Henry wondered how he knew who he was but considering his highly dysfunctional and ever-expanding family tree, he decided it probably wasn't all that strange that he knew who he was.

“Uh no reason.”

“Are you sure? Because it looked like you were examining my feet and I would like to know why? Didn’t your mother ever tell you it was rude to stare?”

"Not your feet, just your shoes for a, em, a school project."

"A school project. I see. Is school important to you, young Henry?"

"Well it's important to my mom." Henry shrugged at this, like any eleven-year-old boy he didn't quite see what relevance school had in the real world. “Which fairy tale character are you?”

"Which mother?" The man said, a hint of a smile on his face, which should have made him look nicer but seemed to Henry like more of a grimace, like he wasn't used to smiling a lot.

"The Evi… Regina."

"Still not quite convinced of her redemption then?"

"Emm" Henry was getting uncomfortable now, he didn't want his mother to be the Evil Queen but he had spent so long thinking of her that way, it was hard not to anymore. It was hard to remember what it had been like when he hadn't believed in the curse.

"You didn't answer my questions about who you are." Henry said trying to change the subject.

"Answer mine and I'll answer yours."

“I did.”

“I think we both know that there is no school project young chap. Why don’t you tell me the truth eh?” 

The older man lifted his coffee cup to his lips to take a sip while Henry panicked over what to say to the man. It was as he was putting it down that Henry noticed the trembling in his hands, the china cup clattering against the saucer. 

Henry was saved by the bell, as Snow choose that moment to walk into the diner, Henry didn't think he had ever been so happy to see her.

"Gotta go." Henry replied as he practically jumped out of the booth.

"Henry."

"Yea?"

"No, that's my name. My name is Henry."

"Oh, but that's my name."

"More than one person can have the same name." The man said chuckling slightly.

"Right, yea. Well I gotta go meet my grandma."

"Indeed. I'll see you around young Henry, perhaps next time you can answer my questions as I have answered yours." The man said, smiling that horrible grimace again, as he left enough money for his coffee and hobbled out of the diner.

________________________________________________________________________

It was nearly six o'clock when Emma decided that they all needed a break, a break that wasn't just sleeping.

"Guys, I've been thinking –"

“Come now Ems you know that hurts you.”

“O ha ha, Ruby. You know if this whole deputy thing doesn’t work out you could definitely try stand up. So as I was saying before being so rudely interrupted, we've been at this case for so long, I think we all just need a break. A proper break. Let’s clear up here and head home, spend some time with people that aren't each other. Get some proper rest and get stuck back into it tomorrow. What you think?"

"Agreed." "Definitely." Came her immediate answers.

"Great that's it settled then."

Half an hour later and Emma and David were back at the apartment, with Emma waiting on Henry getting packed up.

"I'm ready Emma."

"Great Kid. Let's get the show on the road, I'm starving."

"Wait, where are you two going? I'm going to make dinner now." Snow stuck her head out from her and David's room.

"Didn’t you tell her Kid."

"I thought you told her."

“I definitely told you to tell her.”

“You definitely didn’t, I would have remembered.”

“Told me what?” Snow interrupted them. 

"Oh right well, sorry Mary Margaret but we're actually going to Regina's for dinner."

"Both of you?"

"Well, he is her son."

"No, he's your son."

"You know what I mean Snow. Let not make this a big deal." Emma motioned with her eyes to Henry. She hated fighting with her parents about Regina, especially in front of Henry. The kid was so confused already, and her and Regina had yet to sit down and talk to him about what was actually happening between the two of them.

Snow at least conceded to that although Emma could already see that it was being placed on the back burner for now only. They were going to need to talk and soon but soon wasn’t now and Emma was more than happy to put off till tomorrow what should probably have already been talked about.

"Fine, well when will you be back? 8?"

"I probably won’t see you until tomorrow night. Henry will be back after school. We are both staying there tonight and Regina will take Henry to school in the morning. I'll see you at the station David."

Snow looked like she wanted to argue but David put his hand on her back, it was no use, Emma clearly had her mind made up. It seemed that she had inherited her mother's stubbornness. He could tell now, that this, was the reason for the break. Emma had wanted to spend time with Regina and Henry.

"We'll see you tomorrow Emma. Have fun Henry." David spoke for Snow instead.

"Thanks David. Let's go Kid."

As Emma and Henry walked out of the apartment and towards the Evil Queen's house, Snow felt like she wanted to cry. She couldn't understand. Didn't want to understand what her beautiful baby girl could see in the woman who had destroyed their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed. I would love to hear any thoughts you have! Any ideas who the guy talking to Henry is? 
> 
> Next Chapter is very (un)originally called: Family Dinner Part 1.


	3. Family Dinner (Part 1)

Regina was nervous, which was ridiculous, because she was Regina Mills and she didn't do nervous. People were nervous of her, not the other way around. But from the moment Emma had rang to say that she was taking the night off, and her and Henry were coming for dinner, Regina had been a bundle of nerves.

She had changed her outfit, at least six times, cleaned the house to within an inch of its life, and had gone through fifteen, rather grand dinner menus, before deciding that this was Emma and Henry she was cooking for, not visiting royalty, so had therefore settled on Henry's favourite.

Despite lengthy pep talks with herself, there was still only one thought resonating through her mind; tonight, needed to be perfect. It was the first time they would all be in the same room, for any length of time – and without Snow and Charming - since Emma and Regina had started _this_. Whatever _this_ was, and it needed to be perfect.

Ever since Snow had found out about her and Emma, she had barely seen Henry. At the start, she had blamed Emma for this – old habits die hard, I suppose – but Emma barely had time to eat these days, never mind keep her from Henry. No, all the sudden activities Henry had taken up, Regina was convinced were contrived by Snow to keep him from spending time with her. But tonight, was her chance, to show him that she really had changed, and so that's why it needed to be perfect.

As Emma drove over to Regina's house, she couldn't help but start to get a little nervous. When she had rung Regina earlier, she had been convinced that this was a great idea, one of her best actually, but as the time drew nearer she was doubting herself. What if it didn't go as planned? Family time wasn't exactly one of her strong suits, what if she messed it up? While she was pretty sure that what her and Regina had was solid, that it was more than just a bit of fun, or ‘let's see where it goes’ dating, she couldn't be sure. She'd been wrong before. She had thought that bringing Henry over was a good idea, so he could see for himself, what it meant when they said that her and Regina were getting along better now.

In an ideal world, they would already have figured out what they were going to say to him, how they were going to say it, how they were going to label each other and what this meant for the future, but this was a far from ideal world. Both of them had been burned before and neither were willing to put themselves out there first, to label what they had, in case the world destroyed it.

It also hadn't helped that Henry only knew because he had walked in on Snow and David talking about it. When he had confronted them, Snow had confirmed that something was going on and he should ask either Emma or Regina. Emma gulped and shivered even now, thinking about Regina's reaction when she had heard that particular piece of news. To say that she had been furious would have been an understatement of dramatic proportions. She had paced up and down the bedroom, ranting something about " _damn girl, never did learn to keep her stupid mouth shut_ ". Emma hadn't quite got all of it; she was too busy ducking to avoid the random bits of furniture that were being thrown about the room, as Regina struggled to contain her magic.

Yes, Emma thought, this was a far from an ideal world, and a far from ideal situation. But Henry knew something was up now and while she had been able to avoid it for a few days because of the case, they needed to let him know what was happening sooner rather than later and that's why they needed tonight to be perfect. Because Emma didn't want to think about what would happen if Henry thought the same way as Snow White.

Henry could feel the nervousness coming off Emma in waves, and in turn, it was making him nervous. He hadn't heard a lot of what his grandparents had been talking about, in fact he had let on that he had heard much more, in the hopes that someone would slip up and tell him something interesting. So, all he really knew was that _something_ was happening between his mother's and it meant two things. One, he and Emma were now going to dinner with his mom, and if he had heard Emma correctly earlier, both of them were staying the night. Which was a little weird, if he thought about it. And two and far more worryingly, his Grandma and Emma were fighting.

Henry gulped; surely if this thing wasn’t bad, if Emma was okay, then his grandma would be happy, right? Was his mom using magic again? She had promised that she wouldn't use magic and he wanted to trust her but he wasn’t sure if he could. Henry was confused but before he had time to worry anymore, they had pulled up outside the mansion. Tonight, was going to be awful was his last thought as Emma knocked on the door.

Regina felt her heart leap in her chest, they were here. She knew they would both be hungry, so she had made sure the dinner was due to be ready a few minutes after they arrived. With one final check of both the dinner and her appearance, she went to answer the door. As it opened, Henry barrelled in with a quick "Hey mom, I need to pee" before running to the bathroom. She had secretly wished for more but at least she had got a ‘Mom’ rather than ‘Regina’ which had been the best of what he had called her in the first few weeks after the breaking of the curse.

It was therefore, that Emma and Regina found themselves standing, rather awkwardly at the doorway, both wanting to seek the comfort of an embrace but neither wanting to be the first to initiate it. Instead Emma walked into the hallway, while handing Regina a bottle, of what she hoped was good wine – she had nicked it from Mary-Margaret – and heading on through into the den.

A few moments later and Henry joined them. He wasted no time launching into question after question on Emma and Regina's new status.

"So? What's going on with you guys?", "Is it something bad?", "Why are you and Snow fighting?" this was directed at Emma, "Have you been using magic?" this one being directed at Regina.

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down Kid. One question at a time, okay?"

"Here, why don't you sit down Henry?" Regina said. She grimaced slightly when he plonked himself down on the coffee table right in front of them. But decided this probably wasn't the best time to be worried about rules.

"Sooo…" He said, slower this time. "What's going on with you guys?"

Both Regina and Emma looked at each other before starting to answer.

"Well, Kid, its emm…"

Regina couldn't help rolling her eyes, trust Emma to be useless at this sort of thing.

"Henry, I know that the last few months have been full of adjustments for everyone and that a lot of things have changed and well, one of those changes has been between Miss Sw-, between Emma and I. It turns out, that what we thought was hate wasn't exactly, well it’s…" Regina trailed off, it seemed she wasn't much better.

"We like each other, kid"

“Emma!” Regina admonished, she had been hoping for a subtler explanation.

“It’s like ripping off a band aid, better to do it quick.”

"When you say you like each other, so you mean your friends now?" Henry quizzed, trying to get his head round it.

"Well yea. But it's more than that, we like, like each other, y’know?"

"Like, like? Like Ruby and Grandma like each other, or Grandma and Grandpa like each other?"

"Like Grandma and Grandpa." Emma replied, both of them waiting with bated breath as Henry processed. Regina also felt a little sick at being compared to _Snow and Charming_ , even Gold and Belle might have been better than True Love's poster children. Though did that make her the beast?

"But you can’t, she's the Evil Queen, you’re the Saviour!"

"Henry!" Emma stated in a warning tone.

"No, Emma it's okay. Henry, I understand this is confusing and you're worried about Emma but I would never hurt her. I would never hurt either of you. I know who I've been in the past, but I don't want to be that person anymore. I'm trying to be better. Can I have a chance to show it to you?"

Henry was torn. Now he understood why everyone in the loft was fighting and he agreed with his Grandma. _Didn't he?_ Why would Emma want to be with the Evil Queen, she was the Saviour? Was it a spell or a curse? Maybe but Emma hadn’t been acting any different with him. And his mom did sound like she meant what she said and she was trying to change. Could he give her a chance?

"I guess" was his reply and a tensed silence descended over the room when it seemed like that was all he was going to say on the topic.

It wasn't enthusiasm, it wasn't even really acceptance, but it wasn't outright rejection. Regina felt it could have gone worse. Emma had been hoping for it to go a little better. So as Regina walked into the kitchen to get dinner ready, she pulled Henry aside.

"Look Kid, I get that this is tough for you.”

“She’s the Evil Queen, Emma!”

“No, she _was_ the Evil Queen, a whole world away and 30 years ago. People change Henry or at least they can if given the chance. You and your mom have issues to work out and I’m not saying that you aren’t allowed to be angry with her or cautious about trusting her again, but you know I would never let you be here if I thought for one second that Regina was a danger to either of us, right?”

“Yea, I know that.”

Despite his words Emma could see that her son was conflicted, caught between his steadfast belief that Emma was a hero and so therefore right and that Regina was a villain and therefore predetermined to do terrible things. Sighing she sunk to her knees in front of him, so she could talk to him at eye level – a characteristic of Regina’s that she loved. She was silent for a few moments trying to put the complex situation into words that he would understand and relate to.

“I understand that you see the world and the people in it as Good or Evil, Hero or Villain but Henry regardless of the fact that we quite literally live in a world of fairytales, no one is all good or all evil, not Regina, not even me. Maybe it would be easier it we were, if battles could be fought between armies in white and monsters in black but the truth is a lot more complicated than that. Good and Evil, that’s a battle we all face, right here” Emma tapped Henry’s heart at this. “And maybe for a long time, Evil won that battle in your mom’s heart but wasn’t it you that said Good always Wins in the end?”

“Yes.”

“Good won with Regina once, you know this because if you believe that your mom is the Evil Queen, then you also believe she was once a young girl who saved your Grandma's life. I know that girl is still in there and she can still win the battle even after all these years, she just needs someone to believe in her. She needs _us_ to believe in her. Can you give that girl tonight? Let her show you she's in there. After all, isn't that what good guys are supposed to do, give everyone a chance?"

Henry had never thought of it that way – he knew that Good and Evil was an ongoing battle but he hadn’t thought of the players changing sides half way through - he supposed that Emma had a point.

"I think I can do that, yea."

Emma smiled then and Henry couldn't help but smile back, his blonde mother's grins were infectious.

“Okay let’s go and get dinner, then shall we?”

It was at this point that they heard a series of bangs and thuds along with angry mutterings coming from the kitchen so they went to investigate.

"Regina! What's wrong?"

"What does it look like Miss Swan?" Regina retorted, as she tried to dissipate the smoke, that was now bellowing out of the oven. "Dinner's ruined!"

"It's not ruined, it's just… ah… well done" Emma took the oven gloves off Regina and braved the smoke to get what had been dinner out of the oven. As she did so the smoke alarm went off, which only served to further frazzle, Regina's already frazzled nerves. As the former Queen waved a tea towel below the alarm, she called to Henry to open the doors and windows. Once the fire alarm had been dealt with, the trio gathered round the charred remnants of their dinner.

"Well it doesn't look too..." Regina's eyes flashed dangerously, as she silently dared Emma to continue that sentence. Emma then decided to go for a more honest and humorous approach.

"Well if I could work out what it was supposed to be, I'm sure it would be lovely. What do you think Henry? I'm thinking meatloaf, no, pasta bake, no that's not it, tacos."

"No way. What about stew or a roast?" Henry said. Before remembering that his mom probably wasn't too happy about dinner being ruined and definitely wouldn't like their game.

While Henry was partially right and Regina was quite devastated that dinner had been ruined, as she looked into Emma's eyes she found all her anger at the situation disappearing. As Emma found her hand under the breakfast bar and squeezed it lightly, she realised they weren't laughing _at_ her and if she reacted the right way to this, then the night could be salvaged.

It wasn't easy, anger and rage were emotions so easy for her to summon, and she could feel a biting remark sitting on the edge of her tongue. It was how she always would have reacted – _always?_ – again a voice echoed from the deep crevices of her mind, no not always, she thought back to the young girl she had once been, she wouldn't have got mad about this. So, with great effort Regina swallowed the barb on her tongue, and instead, replied to Henry.

"I think we can all clearly see that its soup, dear. Now shall we order something in?"

Henry was surprised by his mother's response but pleased. Maybe Emma was right and she just needed a chance.

"Pizza." Came the two resounding voices from behind Regina, as she put what had been lasagne in the bin and reached for the phone.

"You want pepperoni, Henry?" Regina said as she dialled the number.

"Yes but no anchovies." Regina had to smile at that, he had been saying the same thing to her every time they got pizza since he could pronounce anchovies. Regina didn't think they had even ever had anchovies on a pizza, he had just decided he didn't like them.

As Emma came back in from the bathroom, Regina motioned to her for her order.

"Large vegetarian with chicken." At this, both Henry and Regina rolled their eyes at exactly the same time, only Emma would order a vegetarian pizza – with chicken. "Oh and no anchovies." This caught Regina a bit; it was small things like this that showed that Henry really was Emma's son.

As they waited for their pizza to arrive, they all piled into the den to play video games, well Regina watched as Emma and Henry played. Sitting on her chair, sipping on a glass of wine to calm herself down, the brunette had her full attention on the two people sitting on the couch. Both had identical looks of concentration on their faces, as their fingers flew over the keys of the controller. Occasional shouts of "your cheating" or "no fair" rang out until Emma rose up from the couch, fist in the air, obviously victorious.

"Rematch, Rematch!" Henry called out

"No problem, Kid. Just let me go get another beer, it'll give you time to prepare to lose… again."

As Emma left, Henry turned to Regina, his excitement in the game overparring his suspicions of her. "You have to help me win!"

"What can I do?"

"Distract her."

"Okay." Regina readily agreed, after all, she would walk through hell and back if Henry asked her too.

As the race progressed, Regina waited for Henry's signal to show that this was the best time to distract Emma. Once she got the signal, she walked round the back of the couch and leaned over so her mouth was leaning against Emma's ear. She was on the other side to Henry, so if he looked over, it would just look like she was poking Emma or whispering to her quite normally. Instead her fingers tucked Emma's hair behind her ear, the blonde jumped a little at how close Regina was but held her gaze on the screen.

"Did I tell you how sexy you look tonight?" Regina's voice was low and husky, her hot breath softly blowing over Emma's neck, making her shiver. After placing a light kiss on her neck, the brunette then took the blonde's earlobe in her mouth and sucked gently. With that, Emma was gone, her eyes closed and Henry raced on to victory. Henry jumped up and down in delight, but his mother's were lost in their own world as Emma turned and pulled Regina into a kiss.

"Hi" Emma whispered as she pulled back slightly from the short but sweet kiss.

"Hi yourself" Regina whispered back, smiling. It seemed both of them had wanted to do that since Emma got there.

Realising they were not alone they then turned to look at Henry, who was standing with a bit of a dazed expression on his face, but before anything could be said, the doorbell rang with dinner. _'Saved by the bell'_ all three of them thought.

Luckily the tension didn't last long. Throughout dinner the conversation flowed surprisingly easily, with Henry chatting away about school and his bird houses and his sword fighting, in a way that Regina hadn't heard since before he had started believing in the curse. Emma was also ready to fill any silence left by Henry, filling the table with laughter through quirky tales of her bounty hunter days.

As Regina let the chatter flow around her, she realised she could get used to this, this having dinner as a family. _Family_ , the word filled her with both excitement and fear. All she had ever really wanted was a family to call her own, but anytime she had gotten close to any semblance of happiness, it had been ripped away from her. What made this time any different? Would she survive if Emma and Henry were taken from her? Or worse, they decided to leave her? No, she didn't think she would survive this time, didn't think she would want to. It scared her, the idea of needing people, of needing Emma. It terrified her how quickly Emma had claimed her heart, as if the stone walls she had spent years building around it, were nothing more than scraps of paper in the wind. And the fear that made her heart ache worst of all was the thought that they didn't need her, not like she needed them. That Snow White was right, maybe they were her happy ending, but what if she wasn't theirs?

"Earth to Mom!"

"Sorry, dear. What did you say?"

"I asked if we could have ice cream for dessert… Sooo can we?"

"Can we please." Regina corrected automatically.

"Please."

"Of course sweetie. Go get it out of the freezer."

Henry didn't need telling twice and jumped up to go get the dessert.

"Coming guys?"

"Be there in a minute Kid.” Once Henry was out of the room she addressed Regina. “You okay? You seemed like you were a million miles away there."

"I'm fine Miss Swan. Why wouldn't I be?!" Came the brunette's terse response, as she stood and started piling up the dishes on the table.

"Hey." Emma said, as turning in her chair, she pulled Regina by the waist until she was standing in between Emma's legs, with the blonde’s hands on either side of her hips. "Don't Miss Swan me, what's wrong?"

Hoping to deflect Regina replied with "I thought you liked it when I called you Miss Swan." while running her finger along the column of Emma's throat and down to the curve of her tank top.

"Don't deflect Regina, please."

Regina sighed then, briefly wondering if Emma knew that her please's packed almost as powerful a punch as Rumpelstiltskin's had during the curse.

"I was thinking." When the brunette made no quip about that being a new concept for Emma, the blonde knew that the thoughts hadn't been good.

"About?" Emma prompted.

"This" Regina indicated to the room and the table. "All of us being here, like a, like…"

"A family?" Emma finished for her. "But that's a good thing Regina, this is a good thing."

"It's a great thing, until it ends, like it always does." She whispered the last part, almost to herself but Emma still heard her.

"Ends? You planning on breaking up with me?"

Regina looked into Emma's eyes then, expecting to find humour. Emma wasn't great at having serious conversations so she tended to use humour to diffuse them. But she wasn't laughing, she was frowning. Wait! She actually thought Regina would be the one to break up with her? This realisation caught Regina off guard. She knew that she could be a bitch, she knew that their fights could make the Ogres war look like a picnic, but she didn't get into relationships with just anyone. When she did, it was for the long haul, didn't Emma know that _this,_ they, were everything to her? That she had put everything she had on the line, including her heart, when she had opened up to the daughter of her most hated enemy.

She heard Henry calling from the kitchen, something about chocolate syrup. She leant down and pressed her lips to Emma's, her fingers running through her hair. Pulling back she whispered against her lips.

"I don't think it will be me doing the breaking."

As she went to move, Emma pulled her back again.

"Why would I break up with you? You're perfect."

Regina’s smile was sad.

"How very _charming_ of you dear. But one day you will see me as the rest of the world sees me, as our son sees me. One day, maybe tomorrow, maybe a year from now, but one day, you will look at me and see-" At this point Emma interrupted her.

"You're not the Evil Queen Regina, I don't see her when I look at you now and I won't ever see her."

"I may not be the Evil Queen anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm not a terrible person, it doesn't mean that you don't deserve someone so much more than who I am. Someone as pure of heart and as full of light as you are."

Emma laughed then, a laugh far too jaded and bitter for someone like Emma.

"I'm not pure Regina, I haven't been for a long time."

"You have no idea how wrong you are about that, I can see it in you, I can feel it." Regina put her hand over Emma's heart then, felt the strong beat of it against her palm, it was possibly one of her most favourite sounds, the steady thump, thump of life that Emma had within her.

"MOMMMM, EMMMMAAAAA, are you guys coming for dessert, or not? Your ice creams are gonna melt!"

"Way to break a moment Kid" Emma murmured and Regina laughed then. "Guess we should head in…. but we are talking about this later, Madam Mayor!"

"Oh are you planning on laying down the law Sheriff?"

"Indeed I am, I'll even use my handcuffs if necessary" Emma smirked, she wanted to lighten the mood before they went into Henry.

"Do you promise?" Regina winked and then moved off into the kitchen. "Bring the dishes with you Sheriff."

Man, she was whipped, Emma thought as she continued after Regina, while trying to balance all the dishes.


	4. Family Dinner (Part 2)

Dessert was a rather messy affair, since Henry insisted that they all make their own 'Super Sundaes'. It turns out that messiness may well be genetic, Regina thought wryly as she looked on at the utter devastation that Emma and Henry had caused over her breakfast bar. Peanuts, jelly tots, chocolate buttons, sprinkles and all kinds of syrups were trailed over the surface.

While this would have normally sent Regina off the deep end, after all, order and control was how she had kept her life from falling apart, she couldn't summon the energy to care about any of that, as she saw the big smiles on the faces of the two most important people in her world.

She could admit it now, at least to herself, that Emma was _that_ significant. She had often been jealous of how Henry looked at Emma. Like his world revolved around her. Like she was a hero that could solve any bad thing that had ever happened in the world. But as she stood there now, she could see it. Had been seeing it over time, mostly since the curse broke, but even before that, though she hadn't really let herself think about it at the time.

At the mine when she had saved Henry and Archie, when she had saved her from the fire, when she had stood up to Gold at the election. And then after, when she had woken Henry up with True Love's Kiss and broke the curse, when she had protected her from the mob and then the wraith, when she had pushed her out of its path and fell through the portal.

All of those big actions were what made her the Saviour in the eyes of Storybrooke and even to Henry, but Regina knew that as amazing as those heroic actions were, that wasn't where Emma's true power lay. Her true power came in inspiring others to take control of their own destinies. Her belief that people were not, as fairytales would have everyone believe, just good or evil. That people came in shades of grey and that evil could do good and more controversially good could do evil. Emma had grown up in a world where the notions of good and evil where much more blurred than in her world. And because of this she didn't buy into the fairytale "they're just evil" crap that the rest of the town advocated.

' _Evil doesn't choose evil for evils sake, it always has a reason,_ _even if that reason is just that they want to watch the world burn'_ Emma had once said to her. It was near the beginning of their relationship, when it had been more about angry sex and using each other as verbal punching bags, than anything else. They had been lying on Regina's bed, coming down from what had been an explosive coming together, all teeth biting and nails scratching. They had barely made it into the bedroom and hadn't even bothered removing more clothes than absolutely necessary. Regina wasn't even sure now how they had got onto the topic but she remembered asking the blonde then, if she thought that Regina wanted the world to burn.

" _No"_ Emma had replied " _No, I think you want what everyone wants, and you were trying to get it, you just got very lost along the way._ "

_"And what would you possibly know about what I want, Miss Swan?!"_

_"I know you want to be happy, I know you want to be loved, to be wanted. And I'm gonna let you into a little secret…"_ She had hesitated then as if unsure that she should even continue, but she had and it had changed everything _"…I want that for you too."_

She had up and left then, without saying another word. Regina hadn't tried to stop her and they had hadn't seen each other for almost a week after, as if by not seeing each other, they could just forget about it. And Regina had tried, she really had and Emma had tried, really, really hard and neither of them liked to think about things like destiny or fate but something about the other sort of felt inevitable. Because as hard as they tried, they couldn't get the other off their mind. Both finding that the part they were missing the most, wasn't the shouting, or the sex, but how, when they were together, even if it was for just a moment as they screamed out their climax's while clinging to each other, they didn't feel so alone.

Yes, Regina thought, she could understand why Henry looked at her the way he did, she was pretty amazing, and the part that made Regina's heart break and made her smile at the same time, was that Emma hadn't a clue. She had no idea, and she deserved to know Regina thought, even if her ignorance to her own importance was part of what made her so special.

"So? What you wanna do now Henry?" Emma asked as they supposedly helped Regina with the clearing up. Honestly, they were more of a hindrance than anything, she would have been finished a good ten minutes ago without them Regina had thought but not said.

Henry had originally thought that he would be able to convince Emma to leave at this point but against the odds he was actually having a lot of fun hanging out with both his mom's and he found that he wanted to stay.

"Can we play a board game and then maybe watch a movie?" He asked, Emma looked over to Regina for guidance, she didn't have a problem with it but Regina was likely to have rules about bedtimes and stuff.

"Yes, we can, but no monopoly Henry." Regina answered.

"Aww, why not? I love monopoly."

"I know sweetie, but it's too long a game, if you want to watch a movie as well. So, it's either monopoly and no movie or a shorter game and a movie. It's your choice."

Emma looked at Regina in awe, she forgot sometimes, how good a mom she was. She had never had that, someone who would automatically know her board game preferences, someone who would compromise with her instead of just saying no or telling her to get out of their face, she also couldn't remember ever getting a choice of anything.

Growing up in foster care meant that nothing was ever really yours, not toys and definitely not choices of games or movies. It was times like these that she knew she had made the right choice in giving Henry up, he had needed someone like Regina and back then she couldn't be what he needed her to be. She wasn't even sure she could be what he needed her to be now.

"Okaaayyy, can we play trivial pursuit then?"

"Of course, you go set it up and we'll finish up here."

Emma groaned inwardly, how the hell did she manage to have a kid who enjoyed educational games? She hated them. She didn't think anyone who hadn't even graduated high school would like them. It not that she thought she was stupid, she knew she wasn't but these games were all about general knowledge that had no relevance in real life. The kind of stuff she hadn’t had time to learn because she was too busy learning how to survive.

"You okay?" She heard Regina say.

"Yea course babe." Emma replied, using Henry being out of the room to pull Regina into a kiss.

This kiss was longer than any they had shared that evening and the passion between them quickly grew as they gravitated closer to each other. Soon their bodies were flush against each other and Emma's hands started wandering down, over the back of Regina's silk shirt and stopping just above her ass. Taking control of the kiss Regina’s tongue demanded entry that the blonde gladly gave, their tongues dancing together in a tune only they knew. Emma could feel Regina's fingers at the hem of her tank top, brushing against her skin as they delved under, nails lightly scratching at the toned, flat abs underneath. Emma groaned into their kiss and her hands moved down onto Regina's ass cupping it over the tight pencil skirt she was wearing. Kneading her fingers, it was Regina's turn to moan, breaking away from Emma slightly as she arched her back, pushing her pelvis into Emma's.

"Fuck, Regina." Emma moaned out.

It was almost as if Emma voice broke the spell they were under, as they quickly realised exactly where they were and who exactly was in the next room. They pulled apart, grinning rather sheepishly at each other, as Emma pulled her tank top down and Regina patted at imaginary wrinkles on her skirt.

"I should have just come over on my own." Emma mumbled as they walked into the dining room where Henry had set up. Regina could tell that she didn't really mean it, she was just frustrated and she didn't blame her, Regina was now uncomfortably aroused and the view she was getting of Emma's ass in those skin-tight jeans, wasn't helping the situation at all.

Still she was looking forward to playing a board game with Henry, it was something they used to do a lot and she was both surprised and pleased that he had asked to do it again.

After they had chosen their colours, Henry was blue, Emma yellow and Regina green. They started off. Emma had to admit it was a lot more fun that she had thought it was going to be. Most of her questions had been on American geography or sports so she had gotten them all right so far – after all you don't spend most of your life moving from place to place without knowing your north from south, it was also surprising how much time her marks spent in sports bars.

Regina and Henry also seemed to be having fun together as they laughed over old questions that they had asked each other in previous games. Emma knew she should probably feel left out by this, but honestly looking at the smiles on their faces and she really didn't care. Regina was so in her element here, being a mom and Emma could feel her breath hitching in her throat just from looking at her.

Emma must have been staring because Regina looked up from the card she was reading out to Henry and locked eyes with her. _Uh oh totally busted_ Emma thought to herself and didn't even try and pretend that she hadn't been staring. She thought Regina was going to pull her out on it, but to her surprise she just smiled at her – that thousand watt smile she had only ever seen directed at Henry - and then reached over and linked their hands together, fingers intertwining and squeezed lightly. If Henry noticed, he didn't comment on it and Regina continued to read out from the card. Turning it over to get the answers proved to be difficult but she didn't remove her hand from Emma's, this gave Emma a warm feeling in her stomach that she found hard to identify but that she definitely decided that she could get used to.

Of course, this was Emma's life, so things couldn't go smoothly forever. By her 12th question she was starting to get frustrated, she had gotten the last four questions wrong and she hadn't a clue about this one either. As her anxiety at being seen as stupid by either her son, or worse Regina increased, she started to fidget more and she pulled her hand away from Regina's. It didn't help that Regina and Henry had yet to get a single question wrong – granted Henry was answering from the kids section but since he was a kid that didn’t help her much. Emma hazarded a random guess and to her pure disbelief it was basically right and she got the stupid slice of pie. It made her feel a little better but how long was this game gonna go on for, she had never played it before so she hoped it was over soon.

While the game had started off well, Regina could tell that Emma was getting more and more anxious as it progressed. At first she was at a loss as to why, but then she remembered the groan earlier, that Emma had so carefully distracted her from, and she witnessed how at each question Emma got wrong, she seemed to get quieter and quieter, no longer joking around or making faces at Henry across the table. Answers were given with a question mark at the end of them as if they were more of guess than anything and it surprised Regina that Emma was taking getting the questions wrong so hard. It wasn’t at all like her to be a sore loser.

But then Regina thought at the next question Emma got wrong, maybe it wasn’t anything to do with losing perhaps it was simply the act of getting it wrong that was effecting the blonde. The older woman could understand the notion, it had been drilled into her from a young age that the expectation was perfection and anything less was unacceptable. Emma hadn’t had an overbearing mother but from what Regina had seen in the file Sidney had made her when Emma first got to town, she’d had a long list of mother figures who had never stuck around. A grown-up Emma might understand that excellence at trivial pursuit was not a deciding factor in whether to keep a child or not but had a younger one?

As Henry asked her the next question, she made a spilt second decision, and gave the wrong answer.

"Yea that's ri… uh no actually that's wrong mom."

Henry and Emma looked up at her in surprise. Henry didn't think he had ever heard his mom give a wrong answer. Sure when he was younger, his mom had come up with all sorts of silly rules that allowed him to have extra guesses or see part of the answer, but she had never actually got an answer wrong herself. In fact Henry was pretty sure, even now, that Evil Queen or not, his mom was one of the smartest people he knew.

"Well this game must be rigged if even Regina Mills gets a question wrong, I was beginning to think you were jinxing all my cards Henry." Emma laughed and relaxed a bit. Which was, Regina thought the intention; she even found that she didn't mind Emma thinking she had got a question wrong. _Boy was her mother rolling in her grave_.

"Yes, well it looks like I'll have to brush up on my history a little bit. Why don't we watch the movie now instead? Henry is ahead anyway, he wins."

Emma readily agreed, which Regina knew she would, now that Regina had got a question wrong.

Henry agreed as well, no longer having any interest in the game, but rather in finding out why his mom had given the wrong answer when he knew that she knew it.

While Emma went to leave the pizza boxes to the bin and pull it out for collection the next day, he and his mom went into the kitchen to get some popcorn ready for the movie.

"Why did you give the wrong answer?"

Regina laughed.

"Sweetie, I would have given the right answer if I had known it."

"But you did know it, I know you knew it."

"Oh yes?"

"Yes, cos the answer was that word I couldn't say properly for ages. I remember from the last time we played."

Damn! Sometimes - even though she was so proud of him - it was very annoying to have such a smart child.

"I don't understand mom, why would you lie? You said you wouldn't lie anymore!"

Bending down so she was eye level with Henry, she took his chin in her hand.

"And I haven't lied. Henry, getting that answer wrong wasn't really lying. I just forgot the answer that's all."

He pulled away from her and she felt her heart break, they had been doing so well tonight.

"You're lying now. It doesn't make any sense. Why would you get your answers wrong? On purpose, I mean, I know Emma was getting her answers wrong, but, but you never…."

Regina watched as he quietly came to the conclusion himself.

"Ohhh…. Emma felt bad… and you wanted her to…. feel better?"

"Yes." She answered quietly, almost a whisper.

"She only got the answers wrong cos she didn't finish school."

"HENRY MILLS." Regina wanted to shout at him but kept it to a stage whisper shout because she didn't want to alert Emma. "Whether or not your mother finished high school has nothing to do with how smart she is. She is incredibly smart and trivial pursuit is no indicator either way."

Henry was shocked into silence, first of all his mom never really shouted at him anymore, she had pretty much let him do whatever he wanted since the curse broke and second, she was defending Emma to him. She called her smart, incredibly smart, well of course she was, he hadn't meant it like that.

"Wait mom, I'm sorry. I know that. I didn't mean it like that, I promise. I'm just saying that she might not have learnt some of that stuff, but you don't really need that stuff anyway. I mean, Emma knows lots of cool stuff that isn't in trivial pursuit, like how to shoot a gun and how to find people; she's really good at that."

"Yes she is." Regina agreed. "And I know you didn't mean it Henry, but you have to think before you speak sometimes sweetie. You don't want to hurt someone's feelings without meaning too."

"I know. I'm sorry. So, did you really get an answer wrong, just to make Emma feel better?"

"Well I was getting a bit tired of the game as well."

Henry knew what wasn't exactly true, but this time he didn't call his mom out on it. As Regina busied herself getting the popcorn and drinks ready, Henry sat up on a high stool by the island and watched his mom, wandering around the kitchen like he used to do when he was really young and she was the centre of his world, while mulling over this new information.

Making someone feel better wasn’t exactly the MO of an Evil Queen and yet it wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. A half-buried memory came to the surface, he had been young maybe only 5 or 6, but he had fallen off the swing at the park and cut his hand. A big splinter of wood had got stuck under his thumb and it was pain like he had never felt before. To get it out, his mom was going to have to use a needle and stick it into his finger. He had been so scared; that he had run away and hid under his bed. But instead of being angry, his mom had got a flashlight and got under the bed with him, she had let him cry and then she had told him that she would do it on herself first, so he could see that the pain would go away quickly, and then he could decide if it was okay for her to do it on him. And she had, she had stuck that needle into her thumb and cut a line just like his. They were both left with scars but she had told him it was a warrior's wound and he should be proud of himself.

He couldn’t believe he had forgotten that. How many more times like that had he forgotten, when he had started believing in curses and fairytales and stopped believing in her love for him. Maybe Emma was right and that girl was in there, maybe she had been with him all along.

"Hey mom?"

"Yes dear." Regina said turning with the bowls of popcorn to face him.

"Do you still have your warrior wound?"

Regina looked shocked at the mention of it; it had been so long since Henry had talked about any of the things they had done together before _that book_ had found its way into their lives. Yet she set down the bowls and allowed him to look at her thumb, which if you knew where to look you could still see the thin line. He smiled up at her and then threw his arms around her middle, she smiled and closed her arms around him, leaning her chin on the top of his head.

"I'm glad you're not the Evil Queen anymore mom."

Regina felt like her heart could burst with happiness in that moment.

"Me too, sweetheart, me too."

And in that moment, she found that she meant it, completely and utterly. Neither of the brunettes noticed the presence of another person standing just outside the doorway of the kitchen. She had only been standing there a few moments, had only heard something about warrior wounds, but she had sensed that mother and son were having a badly needed bonding moment so she had kept her distance, giving them space. As she watched the two of them embrace, the saviour felt such a surge of protective love for the two figures beat through her heart, that she was sure she would pass out with the strength of it.

Taking a few steps back, she then entered the kitchen loudly as if she hadn't just been stalking them and the two broke apart.

"Ready for the movie guys?" She asked, ruffling Henry's hair as she walked past and grabbing the bowls of popcorn.

"Yip, all set, what are we gonna watch?"

"You can decide, kid."

As they moved into den, Henry went over to the pile of DVDs while Regina and Emma got settled on the couch.

"Okay we're watching Toy Story 3."

Regina smiled, Henry was obsessed with Toy Story or at least he had been before the curse, he had spent hours outside his bedroom, glass to the door trying to listen and see if his toys were moving.

"3? I haven't seen the first two."

At Henry's horrified expression, Emma laughed.

"I'm kidding, well at the very least, I've seen the first one, an I'm pretty sure I seen the second one on a plane or something. Relax Henry."

As Henry put the DVD in and set up the TV, he yawned and then tried to cover it up before his mom could see. She squinted her eyes at him but let it go. Then he came over and sat on the other side of Regina, so she was in between him and Emma.

As the movie progressed and the popcorn long eaten, Emma started to fidget, she couldn't get comfortable, her legs were too long and she didn't want to put them up on Regina's coffee table – heaven forbid she did that. Without even taking her eyes of the screen, Regina pulled at Emma's legs until they lay across her lap. By the end of the movie Henry had fallen asleep and was now curled up at Regina's side, his head on top of Regina and Emma's legs. Emma sat up a bit, careful not to jostle her legs. Regina smiled down at the sight in her lap.

"I don't know how he sleeps like that. It can't be comfortable."

Emma laughed.

"Yea, that he gets from me. I can sleep anywhere, anytime."

Regina shook him gently.

"Sweetie, you need to go to bed."

"Too tired" was his mumbled reply.

"Here" Emma said as she extracted her legs and stood up, she then leant down and picked him up. Thin arms automatically wrapped round her neck and his legs wrapped round her waist. He wasn't the lightest thing she had ever lifted, but he wasn't the heaviest and she would be able to make it up the stairs with him alright. Regina followed her, opening the doors and then pulling down Henrys bed clothes, so Emma could lay him down. Once she had put him in bed, she automatically stood back to allow Regina to tuck him in, but she felt a hand push into her back.

"Go on." Regina whispered.

It wasn't like she had never put him to bed before, he was technically living with her at the minute. But somehow, in his childhood home, with Regina beside her, it felt different.

For one, she was actually putting him into bed, instead of just letting him do it and then popping in to check on him. And second, he was practically asleep and in this, he looked so young, so vulnerable and so trusting. Like he truly believed that they would keep him safe from everything. She pulled the covers round him and tucked him in, in a way no one had ever done for her. Then she leant down and kissed his forehead, mumbling into his hair.

"G'night Kid."

As she stood up, Regina came forward and she thought for a second she was going to show her that she had done it wrong or something. But instead she leant down just like she had and kissed his forehead.

"Goodnight my little warrior. Sleep tight."

As they walked to the door and Regina turned off the lamp they heard a sleepy.

"Night Mom, Night Emma. I love you guys."

"We love you too Henry." Regina replied for the both of them.

Emma was too overcome with emotion to say anything. So, Regina just took her hand and led her into the bedroom. Tonight, she thought - as she seen a smile that left her dazed with its brilliance appear on Emma's face - had indeed been perfect, ruined dinner and all.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed :)


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